Leak Sensors

Hello, I have the Dome Home and I've set it up with Hubitat but I'm looking into how I might be able to set up my govee leak sensors to work with my hubitat to trigger the dome home to shut off the water if they detect a leak. Is this possible? If not could you recommend some affordable leak sensors that would work? I've got quite a few places I'd like to monitor in my rental homes so hoping to keep the costs down on leak sensors if possible and govee seemed to be the best choice but I didn't realize it might now work with the hubitat. Thanks

Which Govee sensors do you have?

Most of the ones I have seen have a built-in alarm, but they are not compatible with Zigbee or Z-wave, so they do not work with Hubitat.

There is a listing of Hubitat compatible devices here:

https://docs.hubitat.com/index.php?title=List_of_Compatible_Devices

Of those on the list, I have a couple of the older Smartthings water leak sensors (Zigbee) and one of the Ecolink sensors (Z-wave) that I am currently testing.

Although I have not tried it, I suspect the Aeotec Water Sensor 7 Pro is a good sensor, but at $45 each, it is pricey for a device you hope never gets triggered. If you put one under every sink, behind every toilet, near your dishwasher, clothes washer, and sump pump, that can add up quickly.

The Dome Home is a Z-wave activated shutoff device. However, I have heard that Zigbee has a faster response time. If you have enough repeaters to use both systems, that might be best overall.

You might decide to use more expensive (presumably more reliable) devices in the areas most likely to have a water leak and then use less expensive devices elsewhere.

I have not tried this but I have also just ordered several Govee leak sensors and hope to use them in the following manner. If you use Alexa, supposedly, there is an Alexa skill now for Govee that allows you to make Alexa routines to announce which sensors have been triggered. Again, assuming you have Alexa, since you have to make routines to make these announcements, I am hoping that by using virtual switches or contacts created in HE, then using the HE Echo Skill to import them into Alexa, that I can then also use the Alexa routine to trigger events in HE. I have done this with several devices that are not normally supported in HE. However, I do understand that “bridging” in this way gets away from the conceptual advantage of keeping home automation “local only”. However, if you are using a device such as Alexa, and integrating with HE for voice controls, you are already not totally “local” anyway. I am scheduled to get my Govee sensors by tomorrow evening and hope this works out. While in theory this may work, I have yet to try it out and am still a little concerned about linking my Amazon account to a Shenzhen Chinese website. Again, if you are already using your phone to get remote notifications from the Govee App using the Govee Hub, you are already exposed anyway.

Try to avoid all this Cloud based services specifically in critical areas.
Water leaks ...
Internet or Cloud is down ...
Alexa is deaf ...
And water leaks...

1 Like

Hi vitaliy_kh,
I do agree with you and understand the rationale. What specific sensors are you using for your water leak detection? I understand it is very difficult getting the SmartThings sensors at this time. What are you currently using, and based on your experience, are there any sensors you would recommend that are currently available and “local” only?

There are lots of zigbee and z-wave leak sensors that work with Hubitat that are available on Amazon, including:

leak sensors by: Centralite, Aeotec, Fibaro, Ecolink, HomeSeer, ZLink, and Sensative.

In addition to these, Aeotec-branded SmartThings leak sensors also soon be available on Amazon.

Thanks for the suggestions Aaiyar. The current SmartThings sensors you referenced was a little rich for me ($106 each currently), and the others did not seem to have very great reviews regarding reliability. That is why I asked which specific ones are you guys actually using and what has been your experience (i.e., battery life, sensor reliability and sensitivity, troubles with your z-wave or zigbee system, etc.). My fiber connection and my wifi rarely goes out, and despite relying on the cloud, in my experience I have very very rarely had problems with my cloud based services (at least so far in the last 5 years or so). I do understand the potential security issues of having cloud based systems interconnected with these cloud based systems and that if my internet connection, wifi or cloud server went down precisely when I am encountering a leak, that I would be SOL. However, as an interim measure (until I can find a reasonably priced and rock-solid totally local solution) as an “emergency” step, I just wanted to see if the low priced Govee system would work as a stop-gap measure. Again, to learn, I ask what specific system are you guys actually using, and what has been your experience (specifically, any problem areas). Thanks. This is a great forum and I have learned so much from all of you.

I have 8 Aeotec and 7 Xiaomi Aqara. The Aeotec's have been rock solid for ~7-8 years, and the Aqaras have been fine for a year. I have the Aqara's brought into Hubitat via zigbee2mqtt.

I am using Zigbee Smart Things sensor (x7).
I bought them 2 years ago and price was $19
Right now they are not available or price is ridiculous.
For critical applications I would recommend any
compatible Zigbee devices , not ZWave.

Don't forget Murphy Law - it never fails.
Another words, Cloud and/or Internet could be down exactly when
most needed.

2 Likes

As others pointed out, for water intrusion anyway, is most likely during a storm... which is when power/internet has the potential to be out as well. That said I utilize a cellular USB modem w/SIM as backup route on my router for very select traffic only.

I use the Govee sensors and have yet to permit this traffic in/out over cellular. I would also be interested in any integrations - if nothing else for battery status/alarm, etc.

Slightly aging thread but I appreciate everyone’s input. I ended up going with YoLink sensors due the extremely long range (LoRa) and long battery life (reportedly up to 3-5 years using AAA and AA batteries) as well as small size. Since they are not WiFi, when using the YoLink hub, they can be linked via the internet (when internet is working and available), but also can be directly linked to their own siren and other devices without reliance on internet connectivity. I currently have my water sensors hooked up to their siren and a Bulldog water valve manipulator so that if a leak is detected, the water to the house is cut off automatically, even when there is no power to the house I have USP to maintain internet connectivity but if the internet is lost due to a connection problem, the system still works to automatically cut off the inlet valve (everything is battery powered).

Unlike other areas of the country, I am fortunate in SoCal that water related problems/ingress due to storms is not a concern (historically for me it has been 100% due to leaking valves/pipe fittings, washing machine failure or AC condensation damage), so it is unlikely that I would lose internet connectivity/power with the risk of water damage due to a storm occurs. At any rate, the LoRa allows for direct connectivity with (due to my HE hub location) better and more reliable connectivity compared to Zigbee or Zwave (at least in my case). I understand how everyone’s use case may differ from my own and so YMMV. Thanks again to everyone on this forum that took the time to help out a newbie! All information is much appreciated.

1 Like

@moh you have chosen wisely! LOL

Hi @Eric-YoLink

Welcome to the Hubitat forums. Can I direct your attention to the thread linked below?

It would really good if you provided a locally accessible API to the YoLink hub, or supported MQTT, providing a path for 3rd party integrations with YoLink sensors.

1 Like

I did mention that we have a cloud-based API now, it does support MQTT, but that local integration is going to require some hardware changes. A new device, and this functionality will likely come with our developer board and associated SDK. This is supposed to be a 'super sensor' with all GPIOs accessible, and modular replaceable protocol/interface/communication I/Os. For example, plug-in Bluetooth, maybe Zigbee, 4-20mA, RS485, of course Ethernet, plug-in interfaces.

2 Likes

That's unfortunate for now, but I look forward to seeing your new gateway .....

2 Likes